Meet the Idol Group That’s Making Cryptocurrency Coins Kawaii

The world of cryptocurrencies can be a bit mind-boggling at times. People are making a lot of money on them, losing a lot of money on them – and sometimes just losing them. And to compound the difficulty of it all, it seems like there are an endless variety of the coins, from Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that got things started, to relatively more recent offerings, such as Cardano and Mona.

Is there any way to simplify it all? Well, ONE way would be to make an idol group in which each member portrayed a cryptocurrency. That’s the idea behind Cinderella Academy’s Virtual Currency Girls (Kasoutsuka Shojo), a girl band who made their debut performance on January 12.

The young ladies of the group, who range in age from 15 to 22, wear lucha libre-style masks emblazoned with the logos of their respective “coins.” The members, and their respective currencies, are:

In their first single, “The Moon and Virtual Currencies and Me,” they sing about the opportunities to earn – and lose – a lot of money investing in cryptocurrencies. They also warn listeners about the dangers posed by fraudulent cryptocurrency sellers and the necessity to sock away some of the profits you might make in preparation for the inevitable visit from the tax office. We’ll have to see if their next release touches on the recent headline-grabbing news that some ¥58 billion, or $534 million, worth of the XEM cryptocurrency was stolen from the digital coffers of Japanese coin exchange company Coincheck. (Despite the worries that the crime did inspire, the band maintains that they’re staying true to the idea of receiving part of their salary in cryptocurrency.)

You can catch a clip of Bitcoin Cash and the gang in action below:

Despite their ups and downs, cryptocurrencies aren’t going away any time soon; we’ll have to see if this group will be able to generate some hits from the digital currency boom.

Interestingly enough, Japan seems to have something of a split personality when it comes to the world of Bitcoin and its ilk. On one hand, the country has strong ties to cryptocurrency – according to TBS News, yen-based transactions make up some 30 percent of the world’s trade in bitcoin – and various types of coins are becoming all the more popular for young Japanese investors. On the other hand, cold, hard cash still reigns supreme in Japan. In 2015, for example, credit cards, debit cards, and e-money were used for less than 20 percent of all total transactions in the country, and the amount of physical currency that’s actively in circulation compared to the country’s total economy was about 20 percent in 2016, the highest of any other major nation.

But budding fans of the Virtual Currency Girls will have to put their cash away if they’re interested in buying any of their themed merchandise: the idol group’s items can only be purchased using digital coins.